THE SPARROW HAWK. 



67 



assumes a snowy-white hue, the ordinary coloring being gray above and white below. The 

 eyes of this bird are very curious, for in some specimens they are of a rich brown, in others of 

 a topaz-yellow, while in others they are ruby-red. The cere, legs, and claws are yellow, and 

 the bill black. Th« disproportion between the comparative dimensions of the sexes is remark- 

 ably great in this species, the male being barely half the size of his mate. 



The well-known Sparrow Hawk is almost as familiar to us as the kestrel, the two birds 

 being, indeed, often confounded with each other by those who ought to know better. Tins 

 line and active little bird is an inhabitant of many portions of the world, being very common 

 in nearly all parts of Europe, equally so in Egypt and Northern Africa, and being very fre- 

 quently found in India and other Asiatic countries. The genus Accipiter iinds representatives 

 in every quarter of the 

 globe, species being found 

 in North and South Ameri- 

 ca, in Madagascar, in West- 

 ern and Southern Africa, in 

 Java, and Australia. 



The Sparrow Hawk is 

 not so often seen as might 

 be imagined, for it is a most 

 wild, shy, and wary bird. 

 and never ventures near 

 human dwellings, or within 

 a considerable distance of 

 human beings, unless urged 

 by hunger or carried away 

 by the ardor of pursuit. As 

 a general rule, to get within 

 ordinary gunshot of a Spar- 

 row Hawk is no easy mat- 

 ter ; but if the Hawk be 

 watched as he is hovering 

 about a flock of sparrows 

 or rather small birds, he 

 may be approached with- 

 out much difficulty, his 

 entire attention being en- 

 gaged on his expected prey. 

 Indeed, while engaged in 

 the chase, the ardor of this 

 bird is so great, that all 

 its faculties seem to be 

 absorbed in the gratifica- 

 tion of the ruling passion, and it is evidently unmindful of anything but its flying prey. A 

 Sparrow Hawk has even been known to dash furiously at a man who endeavored to rescue a 

 small bird which it had attacked. 



The courage of the Sparrow Hawk is of the most reckless character, for the bird will fly 

 unhesitatingly at almost at any other inhabitant of air, no matter what its size may lie. Mr. 

 Thompson relates the following curious instance of the exceeding audacity of this bird : 



" Once, at the end of July, when walking along the sides of a river, I was attracted by the 

 loud screams of herons, which appeared above the trees at the north-west extremity of a park. 

 A couple of these giants of the air kept flying above the tops of the trees with tremendous up- 

 roar in consequence of the presence of a single Sparrow Hawk. This bird was circling about, 

 and the herons awkwardly and quite unavailingly endeavoring to strike him. Flying quite 



A\ x 



SPARROW HAWK.— Astur nisus. 



